Tuesday, February 28, 2012

No more defeat; No more distraction…I want it all!

Have you ever gotten to a point in life in which you did not know whether to go left, right, or turn around? Ever faced with a dilemma? Ever felt misguided or in need of direction? Has there ever been a point in your life in which you felt God put a gift inside of you but you did not know what to do with it or how to make use of it? If you have answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you have come to the right place. God has put it in my heart to share the following words of wisdom. I believe that Godwants every man, woman, boy, and girl to know that they have a great calling on their lives. God has equipped every one of us with a gifting and purpose that is greater than ourselves. Your gift is bigger than you are! The gift that God has placed on the inside of you is especially designed for you and as unique to you as your DNA. Our spiritual DNA consists of our calling.

Once you have come into a knowledge and awareness of your gift, then is pertinent that you seek God to know what to do with it. I have a feeling that many of us already are aware of our purpose/gifting in life. However, we fall into one of 3 categories. We are either too defeated to go after our purpose, too distracted to focus on a strategy, or we are making use of it and experiencing God’s blessings and abundance. If you fall in category #3, then you are well on your way to LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE. If you fall in either category 1 and/or 2, then it is my hope and prayer that this message blesses you and sheds light to help you move forward.

What does it mean to be defeated? With this, I am referring to mental defeat. You are either unsure of your abilities and have self-limiting thoughts OR you quit before you even get started. How many of you have dreams of being a writer, but have never tried writing for leisure? How many of you have dreams of owning your own business, but have never created a business plan or business cards? How many of you desire to earn a Bachelors, Masters, or Doctorate degree, but have never filled out a university/college application? Mental defeat is so crippling that you never allow yourself to get started. So, with that I say START BEFORE YOU START. This means that before you are awarded the writing contract, before the business becomes a reality, before you walk across stage to get your degree, receive it in the spiritual realm! Believe you have it before you have it. This is called faith talk. Speak it, believe it, and you shall become it. Once you are convinced and have conviction in your heart that it is already yours, then you GET TO WORK. Have a strategy and make small steps to get to what you want. Make a list of your short-term and long-term goals. Keep your goals S.M.A.R.T. This means keep it Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-sensitive. For instance, your long-term goal may be to buy a new car. Before you can buy a new car, you need to save money. Before you can save money, you need a savings plan. So, your short-term goal is to have a savings plan. By using the S.M.A.R.T model, your goal would look like this: I will save $500 each month via direct deposit from my paycheck every two weeks. As you see, this goal is S.M.A.R.T:

Once you have created your S.M.A.R.T short-term and long-term goals, you have to be disciplined to make it happen. To keep yourself accountable, I suggest you ask a person you can trust to check on you periodically and ask about your progress. This person can also provide constructive criticism that can help you stay on target.

There may be some of you who say, “I am not defeated, but actually I am quite confident in my abilities and strategy.” However, you may be too distracted to stir up the gift within you. Have you ever been so motivated and inspired to activate your gift, but then got boggled down with a long day at work, too many obligations with your name on it, or were too “busy” channel surfing to stay focused on your goals long enough? I would take a wild guess that the #1 mode of distraction in our lives today is technology. We are a “multi-tasking” generation. I am not sure how we manage to channel surf, chat online, talk on the phone, text message, listen to music, and surf the web all at the same time. The danger in doing all that simultaneously is that we never perfect one thing. We are dividing our attention on this, that, and the other so often that we do not realize we are losing out on the quality of life. In addition, we tremendously impact our ability to concentrate when we divide our thoughts by over-processing information from multiple sources at one time. I am sure we are also somehow negatively impacting our short-term memory. Imagine doing all of those tasks that I previously mentioned at one time. Let’s add a component to that. Let’s say while you are channel surfing, chatting online, talking on the phone, text messaging, listening to music, and surfing the web that someone walks into the room and asks you what you want to eat for dinner and what your plans are for the weekend. This additonal stimulus will make you either drop all of the things you are doing to answer that person, ignore that person, give a delayed response, or get frustrated easily because of that person’s questions. It is not that you are frustrated with that person, but it is because of the extra stimulus which was added to the equation that overwhelms your cognitive process. In other words, too much of a good thing can be bad. I say all of this to say…STAY FOCUSED. Tell yourself NO MORE DISTRACTION. I suggest minimizing your screen time. How about checking your Facebook only once a week, watching tv for no more than 1 hour a day, or limiting your personal talk or text time to after-work hours only. These are just a few suggestions to limit your distractions so that you can have the energy to focus on your gift/purpose in life.

Focus more on your dreams/goals and not on the dreams/goals of others. Think about this….for every hour you spend watching television and not working towards your personal goals is an hour away from your dream, but instead invested in the dream of others (the television producers/creative writers). For every minute you spend on Facebook chatting aimlessly and not harnessing that energy in creating your strategy and game plan of success is a minute invested in the creators of Facebok and away from your dream. For every second you spend at your job and not taking the necessary steps to stir up your own gift is a second away from you dream, but instead making someone else’s dream come true. Answer this question, are you currently living making someone else’s dream come true or are you living your dream? If you are not living your dream, then what can you do differently to make that happen? Think about it, ponder it, create a strategy, and start your walk. With time, diligence, and focus, not only will you make your dream a reality, but you will also surpass every goal you have ever had for yourself. For that, generations after you are long gone shall be blessed. Your legacy shall be imparted to your children, your children’s children, and so forth. Be empowered, be encouraged, and MAKE EACH DAY COUNT!

Take home message: Whatever you believe God has gifted you with, whatever your passion may be…BE THAT..DO THAT. If you believe God has called you to be a writer, then write. If you are a dancer, then dance. If you have an entreneurial spirit, then do business. Do NOT wait on men to recognize your gifts. Once God reveals to you what your calling is, then walk in that calling. DO IT. Take the necessary steps to MAKE IT HAPPEN. As you activate your faith and “walk on water,” God will bless your diligence and blessings will overflow and make a way. As the Word says, “your gift shall make room for you.”

Faith challenge: I challenge you to focus on the fruit of the spirit FAITHFULNESS. Be more faithful. Be a person that stands on his/her faith NO MATTER WHAT. TAKE THE LIMITS OFF GOD! You can do ALL THINGS through Christ who strengthens you. It is through God’s unlimited power (not your own ability or strength) that you shall succeed. You are MORE than a conqueror. Think to yourself, “With Me and God working together, there is nothing that I can’t do.” Walk by faith and not by sight. No matter how things may look now, but in due season your faith shall see you through. Speak things into existence. Understand the principle of expectation. Do not just hope that God will do it, but also expect that God will bless. As you knock on the door, it shall open. As you seek, you shall find. Think about how God has been so reliable and faithful to you throughout your life. Think of all the times when God showed up just in time to save you, protect you, guide you, and send you an answer to your prayer. I would love to hear from you on how taking part in this faith challenge has blessed you. Spread the faithfulness!

1 comment:

Thank you for this post my sister! The piece about technology being a distraction really hit close to home. I am going to do my best (with God) to reduce the amount of time spent using technology in a way that does not advance my passion and calling. This was an on time word sis! :-)

About Me

I have a passion and purpose for encouraging hearts, empowering minds, and uplifting spirits. I was inspired to create this "Living With Purpose" blog in early 2011 as a means to help others realize that life is sweeter when it is lived with all fullness of joy, peace, love, and prosperity. I aim to share wisdom and life lessons as a way of encouraging others to live life boldy and victoriously!